Nine In The Afternoon
by PixelatedCrow
Summary: But his answer was lost within the moment, for the sound of cheers from the crowd had left his statement unheard. Laven. Lavi X Allen. Unrequited love. Rated T for swearing.


…

AN: An apology fic for my dear friend ShyAnn, I'm sorry for being such a shitty friend and ignoring you almost all of last month. I would talk to you about our issues, but the only way I can seem to get my feelings out at the moment is through literature. About 99.9% of this fic is based off of real events, _based,_ being the key word. Enjoy. First song fic too BTW.

All rights for ' -man' and 'Nine In The Afternoon' go to their respective owners.

…

_Back to the street where we began._

_Feeling as lovers can, you know._

_Yeah we're feeling so good._

A short cool breeze sweep through the empty park, and a soft and ever o gentle kiss was placed on a white-haired teens lips, orange and red leaves scattering the grounds that matched the other boy's hair. This was something the red-haired one had wanted, wanted with such a great need and want for such a long time that he almost never though that it'd happen, but there he was, placing a slow and loving kiss against the others lips as loud cracks of sharp noises went off in the distance, for it was New Years after all, and this kiss, was frankly, the red-heads first, proper New Years kiss.

The white-haired boy was shocked when the other had pressed his pink lips against his as soon as the clocks struck midnight, but not shocked in a bad way, it was nice shocking, really. The kiss, it didn't feel wrong to him, and he didn't instantly push the other back, it just felt a little… _odd_. The red-head that was currently kissing the other with such love and passion was his friend… that was it… just his friend, best friend actually, but nothing more then that, a _friend_. It was confusing, why was he kissing him? Was it just because he wanted too, did he like him, was it an accident? These questions filled his mind as the other kissed him, but when he pulled away, his questions were answered.

The other looked at him through his single jade eye with some kind of feeling the white-haired male remembered, and a hand was placed against his cheek, which was flushed a light pink, barely visible in the dark light, the only light that hit his porcelain skin coming from the few fireworks that went off high in the sky behind them, brightening up the black sky with colourful shades of many colours.

"Allen." The other spoke slowly, petting Allen's cheek lightly with his gloved hand.

"L-Lavi?" Allen whispered questioningly, suddenly feeling very embarrassed with the situation.

Lavi only smiled, and Allen knew.

_Pickin' up things that we shouldn't read._

_It looks like the end of history as we know._

_It's just the end of the world._

All of Allen's previous questions were answered, and he couldn't help but gasp slightly, never ever expecting something like this to come from his best friend, especially at a time like this. Lavi pulled an arm around the others waist, pulling him in for a close hug. Allen couldn't speak, he was a little too shell-shocked, his wide icy eyes could only look up at the bright colours of the sky, suddenly feeling bad. Lavi liked him, he loved him, the white-haired male couldn't tell him that he didn't like him in that way, Lavi'd feel… heartbroken. Allen didn't want to make him feel that way.

"Look… Allen," The other began to whisper in Allen's ear, "I like you a lot okay? And… I kinda wanna be more then friends."

"Lavi-" The other took in a shaky breath.

"I've been… hesitant to tell you this 'cause… 'cause I felt like it'd fuck up our relationship, but the info's out there okay? Do with it as you please but I just wanted to let you know. You've brought something into my life that I knew I needed but I never had… ever before, and I can't thank you enough for that."

"Bunny?"

"You're one of the closest friends I've ever had, and I guess hangin' out with ya' all the time it was only a matter of time before I'd want more out of our relationship," Another breath escaped his lips, moving slightly into Allen's ear, making him shiver, but Lavi was shaking just as much as he was, "I just wanted to let you know… okay?" Lavi pulled away again, cupping Allen's face in his hands, kissing him again gently, "I love you Allen, I really do."

Allen could not speak, he was left breathless over Lavi's confession. Allen's hands shock on Lavi's waist, and he had to hang his head, because he knew that he'd never be able to say something like this to his best friends face. Allen wasn't nearly as gutless as Lavi was.

"I'm sorry Lavi," He began. He could already feel Lavi's heart breaking in his chest, "I don't like you in that way."

_Back to the street where we began._

_Feeling as good as love, you could, you can._

Lavi swore he could feel his heart being smashed on the ground in front of him, left to rot away in a puddle of goop and blood, only to be picked away by the crows that would surely eat anything they could. He should have seen this coming, he knew from before he had even confessed that Allen didn't really like anyone at the moment, he had told him that, but still, Lavi just had to go and let his goopy and gross feelings out for him, didn't he?

Lavi took a step back, his hands sliding off the others cheeks onto his own sides. Allen hung his head low, almost like it was in shame, Lavi didn't want to see Allen's face anyways. A silence passed between them, only to be interrupted by fireworks behind them, glazing on Allen's white hair like dyes in water.

"I'm sorry Lavi…" Allen eventually started, looking up from the paved path that he stood on, "I just… don't like you in that way… if it makes any sense. I'm a confusing one I know, and I love you tons," A small spark of hope popped into Lavi's chest, "But not in the way that you do," Boom clap, the sound of Lavi's fucking heart breaking, "I'm glad that you told me though-" Allen suddenly noticed how broken Lavi looked, and he stopped mid sentence.

The red-heads head was hung, looking like he was trying to his face with his hair. His hands were slung into his black hoodies pocket, and he looked to be biting his lip.

"Allen," Lavi interrupted, starting to walk around him, not taking a single glance at his _friend_, "S-Sorry Allen you're gonna have to catch the bus home… I've- I've got to…" Lavi stopped, not know what he was really going to do, Allen held his hands close to his chest, still a little shocked, his normal warm smile fading for once into a small frown of worry. Lavi never finished his sentence though because he eventually ran off far away from that park, and Allen, just needing to get away from it all.

"Lavi! Wait!" Allen called back as soon as Lavi started to run, beginning to run after him.

_Into a place where thoughts can bloom._

_Into a room where it's nine in the afternoon._

Lavi began to run, not knowing where too, but he just kept running, looking through the dimly lit streets of the downtown area, not wanting to look back.

"Lavi! Wait!" He heard his _friend_ call to him, Lavi didn't stop though, he just kept running, making sure not to stride onto the road as he ran mindlessly on the sidewalk.

"Lavi! Where are you going!? Wait!" He heard call again, he didn't want to hear his perfect voice again, he couldn't hear it, no, it made his ears sting now, made a share, painful, taunting ring run through them, he had to get away. He took the nearest corner he could, only taking corner after corner to lose the person behind him, and before he knew it, he could no longer feel the voice call out form behind him, and he allowed himself a moment to rest.

_And we know it could be._

_And we know that it should._

_And I know that you feel it too._

Lavi rested his body against the freezing metal of a stray street lamp, it light yellow rays sinking down onto the smoky grey pavement beneath his feet. His back soon slumped down, and he was left to think.

That wasn't how Lavi's confession was supposed to go. Allen wasn't supposed to say no, he wasn't supposed to act all innocent and say 'Oh, sorry my dear Lavi, I just don't like you in that way! Looks like you're stuck in the friendzone you loser!', but then again… what was Allen supposed to say? He wasn't really _supposed _to say anything, there were just some things that Lavi _wanted_ Allen to say, not what he was force to say. A yes was what Lavi wanted.

The red-head felt like crying, but he didn't, he would cry in a public place, even if there weren't any people around to see him anyways, crying showed weakness, and he couldn't have people seeing that. A cold sweat from his run ran down his forehead, making his hair feel damp and sticky, one of the worst feelings in the world too him to be honest.

That just wasn't how he wanted it to go though, and he couldn't get over that, he couldn't get passed the fact that Allen didn't like him that way, even if he was so blatantly blinded by his own loved to not even notice that Allen had no romantic interest in anyone at the moment. Lavi couldn't see why Allen didn't like him as well, they were best friends after all… why not just add a few kisses and cuddling into that? It wouldn't be hard, not at all, but no… Allen just… didn't like him… in that way.

Lavi hung his head back, hitting hard against the cold metal of the street lamp, he scowled at the pain, but didn't make any other noise in case if Allen was still on his trail. He didn't understand, why didn't he like him? Just… _why?_

He stared wide eyed up at the bright fireworks popping up in the sky above him, not wanting to move at all in the cool night air.

'_Cause it's nine in the afternoon._

_And your eyes are the size of the moon._

_You could 'cause you can, so you do._

"Lavi! Lavi?! Lavi where are you?! Why'd you run off?! Lavi!" Allen continued to scream his lungs out as he searched for his friend, really worried that he'd get run over or hurt when being blinded by stupid emotions, they had gotten him hurt before after all. Allen's body soon caught up to him though, and all the running and yelling was making his lungs sore, and he felt like he was going to be sick. He slumped down, placing his hands on his knees as he breathed in thick breaths.

Allen was still rather shocked from Lavi confession. Never saw it coming really. He didn't even pick up in the slightest that the red-head liked him, and that was really surprising to him because the spent almost every waking moment with one another, but then again Allen was probably one of the densest people on Earth so it didn't really surprise him.

Allen's eyes widened as he tried to make out the area around him, still worried about his friend. He just really hoped that he didn't get himself hurt, 'cause that'd defiantly cause some unneeded problems. The white-haired boy's eyes were still wide from the whole situation in general, Lavi had just confessed his love to him, something Allen had experienced quiet a few times before, but just not from his best friend of all fucking people. Not him in the slightest.

_We're feeling so good._

_Just the way that we do._

_When it's nine in the afternoon._

Lavi wanted nothing but to hop in his car and drive home to his warm and fuzzy bed that he always knew made him feel better, no matter what. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to see, he didn't want to hear, he didn't want to smell, he didn't want to touch, he wanted nothing to do with the man known as Allen Walker, the thought of him disgusted him. The worst thing about it though was that he couldn't keep his mind off Allen, and those words that he spoke, those heart crushing words kept ringing in his ears like a satanic chant, taunting him.

Allen would never like Lavi, Lavi would never be good enough for him, he should have seen this all coming, he shouldn't have been blinded by his feelings, he just never should have told him he loved him in the first place. This was all his fault, he knew it was, and he knew Allen would be angry for blaming himself, but who couldn't fucking blame him, he was the one who told him in the first place, Allen was just being himself, and Lavi just happened to fall for his charming self, it was barely his fault. It broke Lavi's heart more to know that Allen would most likely try to take the blame as well.

Lavi eventually moved though, and he began to make his way back to his car, he needed to get home, _fast._

_Your eyes are the size of the moon._

_You could 'cause you can, so you do._

_We're feeling so good._

Allen's emotions rattled around in his head as he stood on the sidewalk panting for air, his lungs felt like they'd blow a hole any moment he'd been straining them so much. He wanted to find Lavi, tell him that it was okay to confess, and that he wasn't offended by it in the slightest, but… this was the first time Lavi had been in love… right? Maybe Allen should give him some space, he probably needed to work out his feelings after all, but still, talk about rude to run off in the middle of a fucking conversation, Allen would have to yell at him over text the next time they got to talk.

Regardless though, Allen really wanted to be there for Lavi in that moment, and he really wished he could have stopped him and just talk to him a little longer before he most likely would run off again. Allen blamed those long legs that he had on him. Allen was probably the last person Lavi wanted to see at the moment though, so when he saw a figure run by on the other side of the street that looked strangely like Lavi, he let it be, deciding to himself that he'd let Lavi come to him first.

_Back to the street._

_Down to our feet._

_Losing the feeling of feeling unique._

_Do you know what I mean?_

It had been at least a few weeks since new years had come and passed, and all of Lavi's feelings for his best friend had come spewing out of his mouth and into the open air. Things weren't the same though, that feeling he had when he talked to Allen, that feeling of wanting to talk with Allen was starting to fade, and that scared Lavi, he didn't want to drift away from his best friend.

Allen said he saw no change in their relationship, things were the same from before Lavi had confessed to Allen, but Lavi saw it differently. Their text conversations had died down to a very simple standard or 'How are you doings?' and 'That's cool's. Allen said he was being cold to him, and he was right, Lavi was being quiet a jerk to him, but he just couldn't help himself, he didn't want to be around Allen anymore, not after he had so blatantly rejected him.

Lavi didn't want to speak to Allen at school, and when they sat beside each other in their classes and at lunch, he rarely said anything to him anymore. Lavi stopped inviting Allen to his house after school, even if Allen needed help on his homework. Lavi stopped texting Allen when they weren't at each others side. Lavi had just been avoiding Allen in general, and it was killing him.

There was already the fact that Allen didn't love him like he did, be still, avoiding him was hard enough on its own. The one person, the single person that had brought so many smiles, laughs, dance battles, three hour breakfasts –more of those please- and just an all around good time was gone, out of his life, and Lavi was the one pushing him away. They still had the same interests, nothing had really changed between them, Lavi could see that when he rarely did talk to the other male, but he just didn't want to accept the fact that it was true, truth is curler then fiction after all.

That whole relationship that he had built up with Allen felt like it was gone now, he felt like he lost the feeling that he had with Allen when talked, like he was back to being an emotionless, depressed brick like he was before the saint know as Allen had come into his life. Lavi didn't want to be an emotionless brick again, even if he had made many great friends in the past year, but he defiantly didn't want to go back to a few years ago when he was constantly looked down upon, and he didn't have the greatest outlook on his appearance, and he was still just about as scary as a pink butterfly, no he didn't want to go back to those times.

The thought of Allen still disgusted him though, he still didn't want to think about him, he didn't want to be with him, he wanted nothing to do with him, but he still missed him, and that was what was wreaking him on the inside.

_Back to the place._

_Where we use to say._

_Man it feels good to feel this way._

_Now I know what I mean._

Time passed like it always did, ticking on like the endless flow that it really was. Every second was still the same amount of time, but to Lavi, the seconds seemed to take hours to pass when he was without Allen, and the fact that he had been avoiding Allen almost all month wasn't helping that.

Time never stopped for anyone after all, it just kept on rolling and rolling bye not stopped for anyone or anything in it's way, it had a set goal in mind and it was determined to fulfill it no matter what, and that was to keep going, never stop. Time never stopped for anything, no matter how hard it was for them, it just kept going, and going, and going, and going, and going and…

They got in another fight earlier in February, which seemed to be a lot more frequent since Lavi's little confession, but, he digressed. Lavi and Allen had been texting, which was strange for them at that point, and they had gotten into a conversation on Lavi's petty feelings, and well, things just dropped off from there, and the red-head's ignorance for the other just got worse and worse for both of them. Their chats tugged back and forth from very often to rarely ever and this unhealthy balance of communication was starting to drive the both of them insane.

Allen was the first one to want it to end, and he tried his hardest to keep talking with his best friend, trying to start a conversation that he knew Lavi would want to keep in, but even them there chats were still awfully one sided, and Allen hated it. Allen hated it so much that he had even lashed out at Lavi for it a few times, which was very unlike him considering his personality, and those little lashings, were probably what made Lavin to want to speak to him in general anymore. The fact that Lavi could have just slapped his phone into his hands and sent him a little 'Hey' over text was kicking him in the ass enough already, and he was hating himself for it.

_Back to the street, back to the place._

_Back to the room where it all began, hey!_

_Back to the room where it all began._

'_Cause it's nine in the afternoon._

Allen stepped onto the warm sand of the beach, wiggling his toes into the thin grains of tiny rocks as he watched the sun fall down off the sky in front of him, his best friend –Lavi- placed beside him in the sand. Lavi spoke not a word to his friend beside him, though he did take occasional glances to look at his friend beside him, still finding him as beautiful as he was on the first day he had truly noticed his beauty. It was a shame that Allen didn't notice his beauty though, he always said he looked so average, and everyday, but Lavi liked to think otherwise, telling him that he was beautiful at any chance that he got.

They stood in silence as the sun slowly trickled down the sky, the warm colours painting the dark blue sea in front of them in fuzzy shades of fiery colours. The clock struck exactly nine, and time seemed to stop for a moment as Allen stepped in front of Lavi, his snowy white hair tossing around in a gentle warm breeze. Lavi stared down to him, confused at that sincere smile playing on his lips.

The red-head soon felt the other's arms wrapping around his waist, and his face snuggled close into the crock of his neck. Lavi was confused, why was Allen hugging him? Shouldn't Allen have been mad at him for everything that he had been putting him through for the past month? Why was he doing this? Was he trying to say sorry? If anything Lavi should be the one saying sorry, he was so sorry, so sorry for being a shitty friend, Allen didn't deserve that kind of treatment, not after everything he had been through in his life.

"Allen I-" Lavi muttered out as his hands hung awkwardly in the air around Allen's waist.

"Lavi," Allen whispered, "I forgive you." And in that moment, that single moment when time had stopped just for him, when he had been told his entire life that time didn't stop for anyone or anything no matter how much pain they were in, Lavi allowed himself to sink into Allen's grasp for the first time in what felt like ages, and for the first time he knew was in years, he let hot tears roll down his cheeks and onto Allen's shirt, sobbing out into the other's grasp.

_Your eyes are the size of the moon._

_You could 'cause you can, so you do._

_We're feeling so good._

_Just the way that we do._

_When it's nine in the afternoon._

Lavi's single eye bolted open to the sound of his phone alarm going off, telling him that it was time for him to get up for school again. Turning off the little speech he had set for his alarm he stood up lazily in his bed. He rubbed his face with his hands, but he was surprised when he pulled them off his face quickly, only to feel his face was damp with some kind of liquid. Lavi bolted up out of his bed in a hurry after this, scurrying across the floor to his body mirror to get a look at himself.

_Crying_, he had been crying in his sleep.

Tears flowed down from behind Lavi's eye-patch and his visible working eye, Lavi didn't even notice when they had dripped down his face and onto the hardwood floor of his bedroom, making a terrible noise to him. Lavi pouted before rubbing his eyes angrily, but as soon as he shut his eyes again, he suddenly remembered what he had been dreaming about prior.

Allen, he had been dreaming about Allen, but not just anything about Allen, a forgiving Allen.

Allen had forgiven him in his dream, but Lavi had never said sorry to him in the first place so why was he-

Lavi pulled his hands away from his eyes, and suddenly, everything was clear to him, he knew what he had to do. How he was going to do it though, was the question.

_Your eyes are the size of the moon._

_You could 'cause you can, so you do._

_We're feeling so good._

_Just the way that we do._

_When it's nine in the afternoon._

Lavi had rushed out of his house a lot quicker then usual that morning, actually forgetting even with his prefect memory to lock the door behind him when left, Bookman would surely bark at him for that if he found out. Lavi had to come up with an idea for this as quickly as he could, but he still wasn't sure what he'd do, but he knew he'd think of something at some point, even if it did take him a while.

Lavi was surprised that he came up with an idea so quickly though, and that came when he passed the band room like he did every day, and that's when that idea came to him, and he knew what he was going to do. He pulled out his phone, and began to type.

For the first time in almost a month, Lavi had smiled for the whole day again.

_Your eyes are the size of the moon._

Allen stared down wide eyed at the text printed out on his phone before him.

'_Met me at the park downtown at nine sharp tomorrow, kk?'_

It was from Lavi, but what exactly was he planning?

_You could 'cause you can, so you do._

Allen hopped on the bus downtown the next day, hoping that his bus plan to get to that park by nine would work out for him, but regardless, he still wondered what Lavi had had planned. He hadn't spoken to him once since he sent that text to him yesterday morning, and it was till confusing him. Whatever he had planned though, better have been good.

_We're feeling so good._

Allen reached the park Lavi had requested to meet him at soon enough, and before Allen could even say anything, he noticed the red-head in the park.

An acoustic guitar was strapped around his shoulder, and the case was placed out in front of him. He sat back on the edge of a fountain, and a small crowd had gathered around him. A bright smile was plastered on his face, and for once, it didn't look forced, and Allen couldn't be happier to see that beautiful smile he had. His lips moved in time with plucks of the strings on his guitar, and his voice rang out through the park in a soothing manor, he had such a pretty voice.

His single eye was shut gently, and he hadn't noticed Allen yet, but still, Allen made his way to the front of the crowd, and soon, Lavi did open his eye, only smiling brighter when he saw Allen standing dead center in the middle of the crowd.

_Just the way that we do._

Lavi finished up his song that he had been singing previously, but he didn't take his eyes off Allen from the moment that he had noticed him, and soon, after all the rounds of applause was finished, he started to sing a very familiar tone.

_When it's nine in the afternoon._

Allen had almost gasped when Lavi started to sing the familiar song, his beautiful voice singing it almost perfectly, like he had practiced it a million times before, and just as he had planned, the clock struck exactly nine when he finished his song, and the downtown bells all rang at the beginning of the new hour.

Allen knew exactly what Lavi meant when he had finished his song, he had asked his question through a song, and if anything, Allen knew the exact answer to that question, but his answer was lost within the moment, for the sound of cheers from the crown has left his statement unheard.

…

AN: I really want to emphasize how real this fanfic is for a second though. I honestly did have a dream that told me to forgive you, and as much as I love to sing to you Shy, I can't sing, and my writing is the only way that I can find to beg for your forgiveness at the moment. You should know by now what I'm asking with this fic, but I just hope that your answer will be one that can benefit for the both of us. I hope you enjoyed this fic everyone.

Best Wishes,

Shaclro~

…


End file.
